Broken
by TheManLostinTime
Summary: The events that followed Max Caulfield after she went back and let Chloe sacrifice herself. Dark and Dramatic and just something that was in my head. I hope you enjoy it.


It was a choice that Max Caulfield didn't want to make. All those innocent people ….or Chloe. She didn't understand why after all she had done to save her that Chloe still had to be sacrificed. The one person that had made her happy again. That had made her feel whole. The only person she would have willingly sacrificed everything for. She didn't want to make the choice, but she did. Chloe had begged her to save everyone. Every last on of them. Chloe had made her promise to never forget her. And she never would. The picture was in her hands only for a second before reality warped and she was back in that bathroom. She slid down the wall just listening to what she knew was the last time she would hear her friend. Her Chloe. The tears where already coming as she heard the shot ring out in the bathroom. Reality bent around her once again as time reset itself back to present day.

She was standing at the lighthouse looking over the bay in a black dress. She knew what this was for. She only ever wore dresses for one thing. She walked down the path and made her way to the one place she didn't want to go. She arrived just a few short moments after setting out. Arcadia Bay Cemetery. She stood there as the preacher delivered his eulogy. She stood there as everyone else did. She saw the butterfly land on Chloe's coffin and fly away. It felt like an eternity just standing there. When everyone had left she was still standing there just looking at the tombstone. Chloe Elizabeth Price 1994-2013. The grave had already been filled in while she just stood there. No one asking her to move. They just let her be. It was at this point with no one around that she finally let it all out. She fell to her knees and wept. She didn't move or try to cover up how she felt. She let everything out, bearing her sole to the grave of her best friend.

She stayed on her knees staring at the grave until someone finally approached from behind and stuck their hand on her shoulder. She glanced at the hand on her shoulder unwilling to fully turn from the grave. She tried to talk only to feel her throat hoarse from her crying. She finally turned to the source of the hand to see someone she didn't expect to see there, Frank Bowers. She flew up in a fit of rage and started slamming her weakened fists into his chest with new tears now falling as she yelled and screamed at him with what was left of her voice.

"This is your fault! She went to that bathroom trying to get the money she owed you from that bastard! This is your fucking fault you bastard! ALL OF IT!"

She kept swinging her fists into his chest until she couldn't lift her arms and she collapsed back down to the ground. Frank Bowers had never hated Chloe. He had gotten agitated when she would get between Rachel and him, but never wished any actual harm to her. He had actually thought of her as a troubled little sister. He had never actually expected Chloe to be able to pay him back the money she owed. He had only told her she owed him to try and cover up how bad he was hurting to her. He didn't think she would go this far to try to pay him back. He would have never even mentioned the money if he knew it would lead to this. Frank Bowers hadn't cried since they had found Rachel Amber's body earlier that week. He looked at the girl crying on the ground. She had hit him and cursed him for all of it. He knew it was his fault and it ate him alive. He was a drug dealer, but he wasn't heartless. He stooped down and comforted the girl until she had calmed down more. He had offered her a ride back to school and she hadn't accepted or turned it down, but she had allowed him to guide her to his RV. He had dropped her off at the front gate and had driven off towards the highway, leaving the city forever.\

Max had stumbled back to the girls dormitories not really caring or looking for anyone as she made her way up to the front steps. Sitting on the steps was none other than Victoria Chase and her cronies Taylor Christensen and Courtney Wagner. The girls just looked at her as she wondered aimlessly through the courtyard. None of the girls had really cared much for Max Caulfield in the past and had given her shit, but they didn't know how to act when she wondered up to the stairs. They could hear a feint voice coming from the girl, but couldn't make out what she was saying right away so they paid closer attention to the girl.

"Can I...please...get through?"

Everyone sitting on the steps knew that Max Caulfield was shy, but never had any of them heard her sound so weak before. The girls hadn't seen her face until she lifted her head to look at them and the were in shock. The Max Caulfield that they knew wasn't there. This Max Caulfield was something that frightened them, This Max Caulfield was something that made them worried for her. This Max Caulfield was broken. Her eyes were dull like she all the life had been drained from them. Her face was covered with dry tear streaks and her eyes were bloodshot. She was pale and looked sickly. None of the girls were prepared for this Max Caulfield in the slightest. Victoria Chase was surprisingly the first person to stand up and had moved to help her inside. Taylor and Courtney followed suit and all three girls had started helping the girl inside. They had helped guide her up the stairs and to her room before Victoria had walked over to Kate Marsh's room and knocked on her door.

Kate Marsh and Victoria hadn't exactly been on talking terms before this meeting as Victoria had tortured her for a long time before this about the event surrounding the video. Of course when the truth had come out about the video and what had led up to and after it the torture had stopped instantly with most people apologizing to her, including Victoria and her cronies. Kate being the forgiving person that she was had accepted the apologies without question and had started to move on with her life. She hadn't been expecting a knock at her door that evening so when she had cracked opened to the door to what looked like an extremely worried Victoria Chase she hadn't hesitated to open the door. Victoria Chase stood there and explained to Kate Marsh about the state that the had found Max Caulfield in and how she was scared for her. It was crazy to Kate. Victoria Chase scared for Max Caulfield? This had to be another one of Victoria's evil deeds so Kate had to see for herself. She had walked over to the door to find Taylor and Courtney kneeling beside Max Caulfield's bed. The look the girl had was one Kate had never seen and wished she wouldn't have nor ever see again. Max Caulfield laid in the bed with a look of someone that had lost everything. She looked broken beyond repair as she just starred at the wall on the other side of the room.

Kate had helped the other girls get Max changed before they all piled into her room to watch over the girl. They hadn't been ready for the girls first nightmare. She had shot straight up letting out a blood curdling scream. One as if she had just been viciously attacked. All four girls had shot up terrified and Max Caulfield kept screaming for a solid minute. They had comforted her the best they could before she had finally drifted back to sleep. This continued every other hour that night as they all sat around and worried why Max Caulfield had come to be in this state. They knew that Max and the girl that had been killed earlier in the week were old friends but they didn't expect this kind of state from her. Finally when morning had arrived they had decided to leave the girl to herself and had left to do what they needed to do before class.

It had been two weeks and Max Caulfield had been seen only in passing by anyone. She wasn't talking to anyone and if they tried she just ignored them and passed on by. No one knew how she was doing though everyone could still hear her scream some nights. One day Max had disappeared and no one knew where she was or what she had done. Her parents had contacted the school looking for her and had been met with the same amount of knowledge on where she was as they had, nothing. Life continued at Blackwell for two months before a mysterious stranger came walking up to the school. This person wasn't immediately recognized by anyone. She had on a Blue beanie with Short hair that left only her bangs hanging around her face. The bangs were dyed a bright blue and the hair that everyone could see from under the beanie was cherry red. She had a nose ring and brow piercing with black lipstick and black eyeliner. She wore a black leather jacket unzipped with a pink tank top with a deer skull on the front. She wore black jeans and low top black sneakers with pink threading. No one knew who this person was until she came back out of the principle's office. Then everyone knew right away who it was. Max Caulfield had returned.

Everyone was shocked to see Caulfield back at Blackwell, but none more so than Kate Marsh and Warren Graham. She hadn't talked to anyone at Blackwell in two months and here she was just back all of a sudden. Kate was the first one to try and talk to her only to be walked right past like she didn't exist at all. Then Warren tried to hug her and that's when she hit the fan. He went to put his arms around her only to find his head suddenly jerking back and sharp pain shooting through his nose. Max Caulfield had just punched Warren Graham in the nose and broke it. Everyone was shocked at the action, but even more so when she just kept on walking right after. No one dared to try and talk to her again after that and Warren never said anything to the principle or any of the teachers about the assault.

The rest of the school year passed by with no one trying to get close to the violent and silent Max Caulfield. Finally graduation rolled around and no one knew what to expect out of Max. When her name was called she simply walked up on stage and took her diploma and left right then. Didn't even wait for the rest of the assembly to finish or even talk to her parents. She simply pealed out in what looked like an old jeep and took off with out a single good bye or see ya. And this is the last anyone would see or hear of Max Caulfield for a long time in Arcadia Bay.

5 years later...

Arcadia Bay hadn't changed much in the last five years. A few businesses had came and went, but nothing exponential. Most of the graduates of Blackwell had moved on but they opted to meet up once a year to see how they had been doing. Everyone was there for the reunion party. Victoria was talking with Taylor, Courtney, and Kate as they reminisced about their old days and joking about how horrible Victoria and her cronies had been. Finally the conversation had turned back to that night. The night they had saw someone fall and break beyond repair. No one had heard from Max Caulfield in five years but they had heard of her work. She had been touring the world and going to war and poverty stricken countries. Places that were at their darkest and worst. She had become famous through her work bringing awareness to places that truly needed help. Everyone was shocked to hear of how her work was going. They hadn't really talked much about her in a long time other than her work.

Everyone thought that everyone was there until a car they had never seen before pull up and park. The owner got out and walked up the steps from the parking lot. And that is when everyone saw her. Dark red lipstick, nose ring, brow piercing, and that same short hair style with blue bangs and cherry red hair. She wore a strapless black dress that showed off her shoulders and back. She had on black heals and some nice rings and a necklace that had three bullets on it. But no matter how much makeup she put on she couldn't cover up those freckles. That's how everyone knew the girl before them was Max Caulfield. She walked briskly up to the group of girls and stood right in front of them as she looked them over. The four girls shrunk back a little as it felt like the girl was starring them down. The last memory they had of her was of her breaking Warren Graham's nose and the graduation. What she did next surprised them. She grabbed them all and pulled them into a hug. She told them all she was sorry for how she had acted back then and that she was grateful for them watching over her that night in the dorm. She told Kate that she was sorry for the way she had acted when she had returned from her disappearance and had asked where Warren was. After the girls had pointed her a short distance to their left she had left them shocked and dumbstruck.

Warren was standing talking to some of the old guys from school with his wife now of 2 years holding on to his arm. He had started dating Brooke Scott shortly after Max had decked him that day and Brooke had been there to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart. He hadn't been prepared for Max Caulfield to walk up behind him and tap him on his shoulder. When he turned around his hand shot up instinctively as the memory of his broken nose had sprung to mind. She just looked at him with one of her eyebrows quirked as she held her hands up in a pacifying manner. When he felt his nose was safe he lowered his hands and let the girl speak her mind. She apologized to him and told him she was sorry for they way she had acted and that she regret hitting him like that. She told him that he was always a good friend and that he and Brooke looked so good together. After that she walked away from the party and towards her car. As she walked to her car everyone finally noticed the tattoos that adorned the small girls body. She had full sleeves down both arms and a massive blue butterfly on her back. She made her way to her car and started it up and pulled out on her way to see someone she hadn't talked to in a long time.

Max Caulfield arrived at Joyce Price's home a short time later and parked her car. She walked past an old truck she remembered all to well. It looked like It has seen better days and hadn't been moved in years. She walked up to the door and knocked firmly a few times. The door opened to reveal one Joyce Price looking like she had seen better years and David Madsen looking like he hadn't stopped working in years. She was invited in the home where Joyce and David had talked to her about old times and memories and the things they had all been up to in their lives. After a short time of catching up Max had walked out of them home and stopped on the door step after the door closed. She pulled an envelope out of her bag and had stuck it in the mail box before climbing back into her car and going to make her next stop.

Max Caulfield arrived ten minutes later at Arcadia Bay Cemetery and had walked up the path to the one place she hadn't been in five years. She stopped at a grave that looked like it had been well maintained. The grave belonged to the only person she ever loved. The only one she had ever kissed. The last person she had ever let hug her or any other signs of physical affection. The grave was that of Chloe Price. She stood there and just looked at the tombstone for a moment before she began to speak.

"Hello Chloe. It's been a while." She sat down in front of the gravy as she kept speaking.

"I'm sorry I disappeared for five years again. I just need to get away from here. I've been working to try and help people all over the world so that they don't have to feel like we did. Abandoned and alone. I know that's no excuse, but its the best I could do." Max could feel her self faltering and didn't want to stop herself as she let the tears fall freely.

"I miss you every day Chloe. Sometimes it hurts so bad I don't even want to get out of bed. But I keep going for you. It takes everything in me, but I keep going cause I know that if I gave up you would never forgive me. I'm so tired Chloe. So tired of missing you and not having you. I left your mom a letter and some money to help her out. It's only right since the pictures I've taken were with yours and William's camera." Max wiped her eyes as she continued.

"I know your mom will never believe what I wrote her, but I've carried the guilt of letting her baby girl die with me for so long I couldn't keep it from her anymore. Doesn't matter though Chloe cause I'm done now. I can't do this anymore. I will always love you and I will never forget you, but I have to move on before this place consumes me. I will always love you Chloe and I will see you again some day." And with that Max removed two items from her bag and sat them on the tombstone and walked away and climbed in her car and drove to the gas station in town.

When Max arrived at the gas station she purchased a gas can and filled it with gas before leaving and heading out of town to her final stop. The old barn. She arrived at the old barn to see it still standing. She walked in to find the old wooden door to the bunker gone as she walked down the steps. She walked down the steps to find the walls covered in graffiti before she stopped in the main chamber. This was it. The Dark Room. She despised this place and the memories it brought back. She went back to her car and retrieved the gas can and walked back down stairs. She began to pour gas all along the bunker and up into the barn and all around it. She stopped the path to just a few feet from her car before retrieving a matchbook from her bag . She lit all the matches and threw them at the path and she stood there as the gas trail ignited and raced towards the barn. She watched for a moment as the barn and everything inside burned before she climbed inside her car and drove out of town for the final time.

Joyce woke up the next morning and went to check her mail. Inside she found an envelope with one name on it Joyce. She opened it and pulled out five hundred thousand dollars and a note. She opened the note and read it. The note was from Max. She explained all the things she and Chloe had been through and all the things Max had done to try to save her. And how she had failed Chloe. She explained that Chloe had sacrificed herself to save everyone in Arcadia Bay and that she was sorry she had to be the one to carry it out. Joyce had no idea what to believe but she made her way to her daughter's grave. She arrived to find the camera that had used to belong to her husband William and a single picture. The picture was of Chloe and Max when they were kids. Joyce broke down and started to cry. She didn't know if she believed what Max had wrote but she knew that the girl believed it even if everyone else didn't.

No one knew what happened to Max Caulfield they just know she had left the photography scene with out a word and was never heard of again. Max Caulfield faded into history as one of the greatest activist photographers in history. No one knows where she went but a few know that wherever she was...she was at peace.


End file.
